Remarks:
Went to Douglas County, WA with children in 1887 (after Elvira died) on train (Northern Pacific) which was put through to WA in 1885-6. According to Fred Phillips' (his son's) autobiographical paper, Fred had preceded Clayton to Washington Territory in Feb of 1886 (6 months before Elvira died). Went back to Miller county, MO with "younger children", probably Joseph and Myrtle, in 1888 to sell the property in MO. He fell through the ice in a river, got pneumonia, and died at his brother-in-law John Weitz's house. When great grandfather Fred went back on the train, there was only $25 from the sale of the property--the relatives in MO took the rest--was this where the bad blood with the Weitz branch started??
Joined the Union Army at the age of 14 with his father. Served with E Company, 6th Missouri Calvary. Was court martialed for not firing on Confederate troops during a battle and reduced in rank from Sgt. Major to Corporal.
My family always thought of Clayton as a no-account, Mississippi River boat gambler. However, his obituary stated that he was a school teacher, an owner of a Mercantile, and "the most prominent Republican in Miller County, MO." Our impression of this came partly from Frances Lew, who-although a good friend of the family-was a Weitz and her information may have been colored by the bad family feelings. The Weitz's were Democrat/Confederate oriented during the Civil War in Missouri. Clayton was Republican/Unionist which may explain a good part of the bad blood.
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The U. S. 1880 census, Glaize, Miller, MO, shows a Clayton S. Phillips, b. 1848 in NH, age 32, farmer, married, head of household, mother & father both born in NH.
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The Yakima County Territorial Census, as typed up by Yakima Genealogical Soc. 1871 1883 1885 1887 (the Phillips family is found in the 1887 section):
Phillips, P S, 26 m, Farmer, MO....................assume this is T S (Tilton), would have been 26 in Aug 1877
..............C S, 39 m, Farmer, NY.....................assume this is Clayton Seymore, 40 in Feb 1877
..............Fred, 18 m, s, MO,,,,........................Fred, 18 in Feb 1877
..............Sadie, 15 f, s, MO............................Sara Jane (Sadie), 14 in May 1887
..............Ina, 12 f, MO.....................................Ina, 12 in Mar 1887
..............Oliver, 9 m, MO................................Oliver, 11 in Jun 1887
..............Joseph, 7 m, MO..............................Joseph, 8 in Dec 1887
..............Myrtle, 4 f, MO..................................Myrtle, 5 in Aug 1887
Note: According to Clayton's obituary, Tilton was known to be in Washington Territory; therefore assume "P S" is a mistake; should be "T S" for Tilton Shattuck Phillips. Do not know which month the census was taken, but no month would make all of the ages shown on the census agree with what I consider to be the "real ages".